


Gohanna's New Life

by CheekyChick1only



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/F, Mentions of non-con, Rule 63, female Gohan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-04-15
Packaged: 2018-01-12 00:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1179924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheekyChick1only/pseuds/CheekyChick1only
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>fem!Gohan What if after the Cell Games Gohanna realized she was pregnant? How would having a child effect the rest of her life? Read to find out</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Telling Mom

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve played with the timeline a bit. Here’s what I’ve established: Cell appears, they train in the time chamber, go looking for the androids before Cell can absorb them, fail and then are given a week before the Cell Games in which only Vegeta, Trunks, and Piccolo use the time chamber again. Gohanna and Goku do not.

"Mother,” Gohanna said, voice trembling, “I need to talk to you.”

Chichi paused at the sink, surprised and full of trepidation at what could possibly prompt such a tone from her daughter. She rinsed her hands off and joined her daughter in the living room. She couldn’t help the sigh of pleasure when she sat down; she had forgotten how exhausting being pregnant was!

Gohanna couldn’t meet her mother’s eyes; to Chichi’s observant eyes she looked rather frightened and ashamed. Chichi felt her worry rise; what could possibly make her daughter look that way?

“Honey, what’s the matter?”

Gohanna still wouldn’t look at her mother, Chichi wasn’t having any of that, and she reached out and gently lifted Gohanna’s face, looking her in the eyes she said, “I don’t know what is going on and you are starting to worry me. What is it?”

Gohanna knew if she didn’t say it now she would lose her nerve. It had already taken her over a week to gather the courage necessary to talk to her mother. She drew in a deep breath and blurted out, “I’m pregnant!”

Chichi froze, surely she hadn’t just heard… “What?”

Gohanna let out a ragged breath, “I’m pregnant.”

Chichi still felt rather numb with shock, “How? You’re eleven!” She was struck by another thought, “Who is the father?”

Gohanna flinched and took a deep breath to settle her nerves. “Android 17.”

Chichi gave her a confused look, clearly not understanding the implications. “I thought the Androids were evil and that Cell killed them?”

Gohanna swallowed, “Android 18 doesn’t seem so bad and yeah Cell killed them, but the dragon balls brought them back. I killed Android 17 again, though.”

Chichi blinked, stunned that Gohanna had apparently hunted down and killed the android a second time, that didn’t sound like her. “Why would you do that?”

Gohanna still felt scared of her mother’s reaction and on some level she actually felt relieved that her mother seemed to have forgotten about what she had just learned. Another part of her was annoyed; it was hard enough to talk about without having to spell it out for her. She wondered idly if looking at her mother long enough would be enough to get her mother to magically understand. In the back of her mind she sensed that Piccolo had arrived, sensing her agitated emotions. He was close enough to hear everything, but far enough away that they would not be able to see him. 

Chichi felt a dawning realization and her trepidation tripled. She spoke, voice quiet and almost begging as she said, “Why did you kill Android 17?”

Gohanna knew now was the time, she had not counted on telling Piccolo so soon. She had hoped to put off that particular conversation for several more weeks. She knew he would want to know why she hadn’t told him right away. “Mom,” she paused, “you know after training in the time chamber we split up to try and find the androids before Cell could absorb them. I didn’t tell anybody, but,” she took a breath, “I found Android 17. He thought it was funny that I would fight him and he said he was going to ‘put me in my place”’ she said bitterly, at this point deliberately ignoring her mother’s look of dawning comprehension and the way Piccolo’s ki flared in anger.

“He said that he hadn’t ‘gotten any’ since before Dr. Gero changed him and 18. He said I was close enough to a grown woman—” she cut herself off abruptly. “I’m not saying anything else about it, but you understand now, right?” Gohanna didn’t wait for either Chichi or Piccolo to answer before powering on. “I wasn’t strong enough then, but I used my hidden power against Cell. I knew I was strong enough now. And I know that killing is wrong, but I don’t regret what I did to Android 17. He more than earned death. And I was the only one who could do it.”

Chichi’s eyes were filled with tears, “My baby was raped?” she whispered.

Gohanna didn’t look at her mother, she would have nodded, but she knew Piccolo was waiting on an answer as well. “Yes.” She choked out, surprised at how much it hurt to admit. She was surprised to find herself pulled into her mother’s lap as the woman tried to comfort her child who had been hurt so badly. As Gohanna started to break down in her mother’s arms she felt Piccolo’s ki flare again and she knew he had sense the second ki signature in her abdomen, the only reason she had known about the baby.

She decided that talking to him could wait. She needed this release; she had needed it for two-and-a-half-months, ever since that awful day. And with that she let go and sobbed in her mother’s arms for the first time since she was four years old.


	2. Telling Piccolo

It was the next day before Gohanna could talk to Piccolo; she had cried herself to sleep in her mother’s arms. She vaguely wished she had thought to pretend to still be asleep, she was definitely dreading this conversation.

Piccolo and Gohanna stared at each other, each unwilling to be the one to start. Whilst Gohanna would normally not stand a chance of outlasting her teacher, Gohanna’s deep reluctance to talk about the subject and Piccolo’s need to know led to him speaking first, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Gohanna paused at his question. She had been expecting him to ask why she had not said anything to the group and she had been prepared to answer him. She had not expected him to ask why she had not told him specifically. She knew these were two different questions. She decided to start with why she had not told the group while she gathered her thoughts for the other question, “I didn’t say anything because there was not a lot of time. Everything was happening so fast. Almost as soon as it was over,” Gohanna risked a glance at her mentor, who had his usual impassive face, waiting for the rest of the answer, “Android 17 took off and was absorbed by Cell. Cell was suddenly so powerful and talking about destroying the world and it didn’t seem like the right time to distract everyone with such a little thing—”

Piccolo cut her off sharply, anger shining through despite his attempt to remain calm, “Do not attempt to trivialize what was done to you. I know you think that if you refer to it as something meaningless it will then become so, this is not the case. You may not want to accept it, but what happened happened and you cannot change that through words. And I would think you would be past the point where you felt the need to hide from me.”

Gohanna felt her eyes burn, “You’re right, I’m sorry. I just…I don’t know. I would want to know if anyone else had gotten hurt and if it had happened to the others it would seem so important, but I can’t help but feel that since it was me it should be trivial.”

Piccolo clearly wasn’t pleased, but he seemed to let it go for the moment. “Continue,” he ordered.

“With everybody so worried about the Earth and dying it seemed wrong to say something because we didn’t have the time. And I hated the thought of being seen as weak when we were going into a fight.” She looked at Piccolo now, feeling more sure of herself with her mentor than she had been with her mother and said, “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to distract you from your training and then it seemed wrong to distract you before the fight. After the Cell Games it seemed…awkward to try and bring it up. It had been less than two weeks, but it felt like years had gone by. I just didn’t know how to bring it up.”

Piccolo merely looked at her, unimpressed, knowing she hadn’t told him everything. “And?” he prompted.

Gohanna swallowed, looking away again, not able to look at her mentor. “I was afraid you’d be disappointed,” she confessed in a quiet voice. “You’ve always taught me not to be weak and you’ve pushed me to grow stronger and when the time came I couldn’t do anything, I wasn’t strong enough. And it hurts more now because I know that if I had used my power I could have saved myself.”

“Look at me,” Piccolo barked and Gohanna didn’t even think of disobeying. Piccolo spoke, unusually gently, “In case you don’t remember, it took a great deal to bring out your power. And you did so for the sake of others. You’ve never really fought for yourself and it is no surprise you weren’t able to do so then. None of us would have been able to stop him from doing anything he wanted. There is nothing shameful about being attacked and hurt by someone stronger than you.”  
Gohanna couldn’t help her raised eyebrow; she had heard quite the opposite from both him and Vegeta many times.

Piccolo smirked a bit, “Don’t get cute. Do you think less of your father for getting killed by Radditz? Or me dying from Nappa?”

As he predicted, Gohanna responded with the negative. “See? If there is one thing we’ve learned it’s that not even great strength can guarantee your safety; you will come across stronger foes and you won’t be able to save yourself every time. That doesn’t make you weak or unworthy.”

Gohanna let out a sob at those words, surprised at her teacher. She had thought for sure he would be disgusted at her weakness. “I don’t know what to do Mr. Piccolo, it hurts so much! It hurts more than Dad dying.”

Piccolo couldn’t help the flash of surprise across his face. It was no secret how much Gohanna missed Goku.

Seeing the surprise, Gohanna explained, “As bad as it sounds, I’m used to Dad being gone; since Radditz he’s always gone. Even when he is here he’s only ever thinking about training. He hasn’t been a necessary part of my life in seven years. I know how to live without him. But I don’t know how to live with this! Every day it feels so fresh and raw and I don’t know how it can possibly get better.”

Gohanna put her face in her hands and started sobbing. Piccolo reached out and places his hand on her shoulder, offering comfort.

“You know that in time you will heal. Someday this wound will not pain you the way it does now. Between now and that time you will just have to trust your friends to help you.”

Gohanna looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, “I don’t know if I can bear to tell the others. It was so hard telling you and mother and I’m nowhere near as close to the others.”

“Perhaps that will make it easier. Our reactions troubled you so much because of how close you are to us. You are less so with the others and perhaps that will make it easier to tell them. You must realize you have to tell them. At some point they will notice you have a child.”

Gohanna sighed, knowing it was true. “I’m not telling them now. I am so worn out, I can’t take telling anyone else.” With a sardonic smile she said, “Maybe I’ll wait until the next reunion and just show up pregnant.”

Piccolo looked vaguely amused, “I think you may find that to be even more stressful than just telling them.”

“Probably,” she agreed letting out a long sigh, “I shudder to think what their reactions will be. Vegeta will berate me for being weak. He will be unbearable.”  
Piccolo gritted his teeth, knowing it would be true. “If he thinks weakness should be derided you should follow his lead; you are stronger than him, perhaps you should remind him of that.”

Gohanna balked, “I can’t get in a fight! It might hurt the baby!” She was struck by a thought, “Wait, how am I still pregnant? Cell beat the hell out of me and I got hit in the stomach several times. How could I not have miscarried?” She really started panicking now, “Oh Dende, do you think the baby’s hurt? Oh, I’m such a terrible mother; I’ve already hurt my baby!”

“Calm down!” Piccolo barked. “Now I have nothing to offer you as far as knowledge of pregnancies, I have never concerned myself with such things. However, if you are concerned about the health of your child, I would suggest you visit Dende.”

Gohanna agreed quickly and together they flew off to the lookout. Thankfully, Dende took the news very calmly and agreed to check on the baby. He was happy to inform them that the child was completely healthy. He could not offer an explanation as to how the baby survived the fight with Cell. That would remain a mystery for the time being.

Later that night, after saying goodbye to her mentor, Gohanna found herself curled up in her mother’s bed, with her mother running her fingers through the young demisaiyan’s hair. “Mama?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, baby?”

“When do I have to tell the others?”

Chichi looked at her daughter who looked as if she was completely exhausted. She hesitated to tell her about the idea she’d had earlier. Despite her misgivings she said, “You can tell them if you want to. But what if you didn’t have to?”

Gohanna sat up, looking at her mother in confusion, “What do you mean?”

Chichi felt nervous as she explained, “All of your father’s friends already know I’m pregnant. They wouldn’t think anything of it if we told them I’d had twins.”  
Gohanna stared. “You mean you’d raise the baby for me?”

Chichi nodded. “It’s not as if you were screwing around or not being careful. This was forced on you and you are so young to be facing such consequences that will last the rest of your life. If you want, this baby can be your little brother/sister instead of your son/daughter.”

Gohanna felt like she’d been slapped, though she wasn’t sure why. She knew most people in her position would leap at the opportunity. However, “I don’t want that.” She looked her mother in the eye, trying to convey her seriousness. “I haven’t thought much about the future yet beyond telling everyone. But I really hate the idea of anyone else raising my baby. I love you, mom, I do, but I don’t want you to be my baby’s mom.”

Chichi searched her daughter’s face for any sign of doubt, she didn’t find any. “You don’t have to decide now. But you need to know for sure before the babies are born. And you should think more about it. You can’t just quit motherhood when it gets hard. And you still have so much growing to do, you’re still a child.”

Gohanna just shook her head, “No, I’m not. I’ve seen and done things most adults have never had to experience. The only people I really know are family and the Z gang. And of those people I’ve seen everyone but you, Grandpa, Bulma and Master Roshi die. And I’ve had the weight of the world on my shoulders and I’ve had to kill. My childhood ended a long time ago.”

Chichi felt a deep sadness overtake her, knowing her daughter was right, “I never wanted this for you,” she said softly.

Gohanna leaned on her mother, seeking comfort. “I know. And I know it’s going to be hard. But it’s important to me that my child will be my child. You will help me though, won’t you?”

“I will be there for you every step of the way. You don’t have to go through this alone.” And with that the pair turned out the light and settled down to sleep.


	3. Telling everyone and getting answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> possible triggers in first section. can anyone tell me how to italicize on here?

Gohanna flew over the wilderness, searching. She wished again that they could just sense the Android’s ki.

She was jerked out of her thoughts by a flash of black in the corner of her eye. As she was turning, she was sent crashing to the ground from the force of the kick to her face. She got up quickly and saw Android 17 smirking at her.

“Ah look at who it is. What can I do for you, kiddo?”

Gohanna was just about to flare her ki to alert the others when suddenly 17 was right in front of her with a punishing grip on her forearm. He had not lost the smirk, “Hey, we don’t want to call anyone else, do we? I thought we were having such a nice time. If you try to call anyone, well let’s just say things aren’t going to be nearly so pleasant.”

Gohanna knew a threat when she heard one and now she had to make a decision. She knew that she couldn’t fight 17 on her own, but it would be suicide at this point to try anything. 17 seemed amused as he watched her, knowing she had no choice but to comply.

“I can’t believe the best fighters on the planet sent a little girl to fight me and sis.” His smirk widened as he mockingly cooed, “Oh is the widdle baby a big strong fighter?” He laughed derisively.

Gohanna gritted her teeth, annoyed. She dearly wished she was strong enough to wipe the smirk off his face. Her annoyance seemed to amuse him even more. Behind the amusement thought she could see something darker beginning to awaken. “Hey kiddo, you wanna watch yourself. I’m starting to think you need a reminder of your place. I’d me more than happy to put you there. It’s been too long.”

Gohanna was confused now, “What’s been too long?”

17’s smirk widened again, “Since I got laid.” He laughed at her widened eyes. “I haven’t had the chance since the good doctor got a hold of me and 18.”

Gohanna’s eyes narrowed into a glare, “That’s sick! I’m eleven!”

17 looked at her, deliberately checking her out, making her squirm in discomfort. “You look enough like a woman to me.”  
\------------------------------------------------  
Gohanna bolted upright, panting. She’d been hoping that telling someone might have helped with her nightmares, but she had continued to have the same dream every night. She glanced out the window and was surprised to see the sun was out. She’d actually been able to get some sleep before the nightmare started for once.

It had been over two weeks since her talk with her mother and Piccolo. About a week after that she had called Bulma and asked her to call the Z gang together for a reunion. She felt nervous. At now three months pregnant she was definitely showing. She knew it wouldn’t be nearly as obvious if not for the fact that most of her body was pure muscle and the small bump was more obvious on her small eleven year old frame than on her mother’s adult form. 

The flight to Capsule Corp passed in silence. Gohanna was too absorbed in her thoughts and Chichi was too worried to interrupt. She knew that Gohanna was liable to bolt at the slightest inclination.

When they arrived, they headed to the backyard noting that they were the last ones there. There were happy shouts of greetings that were immediately followed by complete silence upon seeing the two. The shock within the clearing felt suffocating and Gohanna’s frayed nerves couldn’t handle anything else, so she started telling her story before anyone had the chance to say anything. To her immense surprise Vegeta was furious—at Android 17!

“That stupid machine! I will feed him his balls for this!”

Despite their agreement, the others couldn’t help their surprise. Since when did Vegeta care?

Gohanna couldn’t help the dark satisfaction when she told them what she had done to the android.

“Good,” Vegeta grunted.

Gohanna considered the man before her, “Vegeta,” she started, “I was just wondering…I mean…why do you care?”

Vegeta turned his glare on her, “Saiyans do have honor. Yes we do thrive on battle and death, but it is the highest crime to force yourself on another.” He looked pointedly at her abdomen. “Not only because of the child.”

Gohanna stared, “So it’s only bad if you get pregnant?” she asked angrily.

“No you fool.” Vegeta sneered. “Saiyans always conceive the first time they have sex.” At the shocked looks he was receiving he said, “What? You’ve said yourself that the brat was born within a year Kakarot and the harpy’s marriage. And the woman and I only laid together once. After that there is no guarantee of conception, but the first time always produces a child.”

Bulma, forgetting the more pressing issue of Gohanna’s trauma, screamed out, “You mean you got me pregnant on purpose?”

Flushing lightly he said, “Saiyans always remained chaste before marriage due to the problem of first conception. It was always two virgins together. I assumed that your prior experience would interfere with conception.”

Not accepting this explanation she shouted, “Are you calling me a slut?”

Krillin tentatively interrupted, “Hey guys, is this really the time?”

Bulma glared at him for a second before sighing, “No you’re right. Gohanna, have you been to a doctor yet?”

“No, but I’ve been to see Dende. I was actually wondering how the baby could have survived the fight with Cell.”

Vegeta grunted, “No female saiyan has ever lost a child. It is not a concern among our people. You are in for a terrible few months brat; your body is playing catch up in order to properly care for a child. I suggest you stop training; you are going to need a lot of rest.”

Gohanna blanched, that sounded terrible! She blinked, “Wait, how do you know that?”

Vegeta looked away growling, “Rape is a crime. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t still happen. All the children underwent rapid development in order to be prepared. At your age, you stand a good chance of surviving the process.”

That got everyone’s attention, “What do you mean survive?” Yamcha asked, aghast.

“Young children are not capable of surviving such drastic changes. The brat at least is at the cusp of puberty already. It’s only speeding up the process.”  
Gohanna flushed, “Alright, that’s enough of that. No more will be said about puberty or development. Please.”

Krillin and Yamcha wanted to tease the girl, but before they could they saw the baby bump and they felt the humor drain right out of them.

Gohanna saw this and frowned. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you. I don’t want to be treated different. I’m hurting, not fragile. I don’t want to think about it and if that is all everyone else does then it’s just going to be even harder.”

Krillin frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I spend most of the day trying to pretend nothing happened. And when everything is so normal it’s like I can forget for a while. But if you are being so careful not to upset me it’s impossible not to think about it. And after everything he’s already taken from me, I don’t want him to be a part of anything else. If you can’t look at me without seeing him then stay away. I don’t need that right now.” She spun on her heel and stomped over to Piccolo who had been observing silently the entire time.

“Well, gosh, I wasn’t trying to upset her,” Krillin said.

Bulma sighed, “I think we should all make an effort to not treat her any differently. For now let’s just focus on the party.”

It was definitely awkward, but they all went about, trying to focus on other things, but weren’t doing a very good job of it, but Gohanna appreciated it nevertheless.

“You know that you can’t ignore this forever,” Piccolo said, drawing the girl’s attention. “You are going to have to talk about it eventually or it will fester inside.”  
Gohanna gave him a tight smile, “I know. But it’s still so raw. I need time.”

He wished that he had some way to comfort her, but he knew she did not need useless platitudes, “You don’t have the luxury of time. You aren’t going to want to be having nightmares during what little time you will have to sleep after your child is born. And this kid will be a constant reminder that you won’t be able to avoid or ignore.”

Gohanna wondered if she should be surprised that Piccolo knew about the dreams. She knew he was right though, she only had six or seven months until she would not be able to focus on herself anymore. She didn’t respond. Piccolo hadn’t expected her to.


	4. Seven years later

7 years later…

“But, mother!” Gohanna protested. “No buts!” Chichi ordered, before gently saying, “Don’t fight me on this. You need to get out more. You don’t know anyone your own age. You can’t spend the rest of your life in the mountains with your mother.”

“But high school?” she said incredulously. “You know that I’m way past high school level! I help Bulma!”

“The point isn’t your education. It’s about social interaction.” Chichi said firmly.

Raising her eyebrow, Gohanna said, “Somehow I don’t think that’s quite the way it was intended.”

“Gohanna,” Chichi said before sighing, “You need to start having fun. I’m worried about you. You never do anything irresponsible or stupid.”

Gohanna gaped at her mother, shocked, “How is that a bad thing?”

Chichi let out an exasperated huff, “That’s what you’re supposed to be doing! You’re supposed to be sneaking out and doing stupid things! That’s part of being young.”

“I can’t do stuff like that,” Gohanna protested, “What would Pan think?”

“Exactly,” Chichi exclaimed. “You need time to be selfish. Just spend time with friends, go shopping, go to parties, anything!”

“Mother,” Gohanna said firmly, “We talked when Pan was born. I don’t want you to be her mother. If I went to school I’d be gone for hours every day.”

“Think of it like babysitting. All parents have to do that at some point.” Chichi could see there was more bothering her eldest child, “What’s wrong sweetie?”

Gohanna looked away, “I don’t have anything in common with regular people. I’ve always been fighting for my life and I know things about the afterlife and the powers that be that no one but our group knows. How could I possibly talk to them?”

Chichi gathered her daughter into her arms, “Will you at least try? For me?”

Gohanna looked at her mother, thinking hard, “I expect to be called out if Pan needs me.”

“Of course,” Chichi agreed quickly, “And if she requires parental discipline I’ll tell you the second you get home.”

Gohanna sighed, “I’m still not happy about this.”

“You don’t have to be. Just give it a try.”  
\---------------------------

It had been just over two and a half months since Gohanna started high school. Despite having to keep her secrets from everyone she found herself enjoying it a lot. She enjoyed hanging out with Videl, Erasa and Sharpner too. It was a novel experience for her to spend time with friends and not be training for the fight of their lives. She liked it a lot.

‘I wonder when I should tell them about Saiya girl.’ She wondered idly. She knew the mystery was driving Videl crazy. It would be a good lead in if she ever told them about everything else. And she was starting to think she could trust the trio with some of her secrets.

She had strange relationships with the long-time friends. She had met Erasa first and she enjoyed the girl’s sunny disposition and loved having long conversations with the girl about everything and nothing. She had actually met Sharpner next. For a week and a half he had taunted her, calling her a nerd and accusing her of being weak. Fortunately she was not one to hold a grudge, so when she came across him being mugged by five guys she stepped in and sent them packing. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to turn into Saiya girl first. At least she hadn’t done anything odd. After that though Sharpner had declared himself her protector and they often talked about fighting. He also turned out to be a great listener whenever she was in the rare mood to rant.

She met Videl last. Videl seemed to be personally offended by the fact that Gohanna had secrets and didn’t immediately tell them to her. She backed off quickly when Gohanna told her that someone who spent as much time in the public eye as she did should know the value of privacy. She also told her that until Gohanna knew every single secret Videl had, she had no right to demand that Gohanna give up all of hers.

After that though, the two had quickly bonded. Videl was overjoyed to discover that the other girl was a fighter as well and positively giddy to learn that Gohanna was stronger than her; she had been longing for a good challenge. They bonded over being strong women in a world of primarily male fighters. Gohanna tried hard to never let Videl see the growing attraction she had for the shorter girl. She knew Videl would not appreciate it.

As she got closer to where she could sense the trio hanging out, her sensitive hearing picked up on Sharpner’s rather obnoxious tone, “Why would you want to do research on such a weakling? Everyone knows that Son Goku was a loser, he just got lucky with his tricks.”

Gohanna saw red. Faster than she usually dared while at school, she stormed into the classroom, hauled Sharpner up by his collar, slammed him into the wall and pinned him in place with an arm against his chest.

Sharpner was very surprised; Gohanna never used her strength against them. One look at her face was enough to convince him that he had messed up—badly.

“How dare you?” she snarled.

“What?” Sharpner asked, confused and just a tad terrified.

“Show some respect for the dead.”

This caused everyone in the room to pause. Sharpner had been talking to some of his fellow jocks when Gohanna had burst in. They were shocked at how strong the nerd girl was; Videl was trying to pull her off of Sharpner, but couldn’t make her budge. Surprisingly, Erasa was the one who caught on first.

“Wait, are you saying Son Goku is dead?”

“Yes,” Gohanna growled out.

Videl was shocked, “I’ve never heard that. Why would you think he’s dead?”

Gohanna looked at her friends, anger slowly giving way to sadness, “I know he’s dead. He was my father.”

“Your father was the former WMAT champion?” Videl exclaimed, rather missing the most important part of the girl’s statement.

“Yes,” Gohanna said shortly, abruptly pulling back, allowing Sharpner to fall to the ground. She turned around and stormed out of the room just as quickly as she had stormed into it. 

“Videl, that was insensitive,” Erasa chastised lightly, making Videl hang her head.

“Man, I wasn’t trying to diss her dad,” Sharpner said, ashamed. He felt awful that he had upset his newest friend when he had just been trying to show off to the other jocks.

“Come on,” Videl said, grabbing Erasa and Sharpner, “We need to find Gohanna and tell her we didn’t mean it.”

The trio spent half of their free period searching for their wayward friend, they were just starting to think that she had left and gone home when they found her on the roof. She was looking up at the sky with her knew curled up into her chest. She seemed to be looking at something they couldn’t see, and for a minute they wondered if she realized they were even there. She spoke up quietly, “He didn’t have to be dead, you know.”

“What?” Erasa asked.

“He just abandoned us.” Gohanna still wasn’t looking at them, they wondered if she was so much talking to them or merely thinking out loud.

Still Videl responded, “What do you mean? I thought you said he died.”

Gohanna looked at them now, and they were surprised at the anger and bitterness in her eyes. “He chose to be dead. We could have helped him. We knew how to fix it. But he’s all ‘No thanks, I’m good. See you when you die.’ I mean, who does that?” she spat.

The trio was left to wonder how much of that was actually true and how much was the girl’s bitterness coming out.

“I’m sorry he left you and your mom,” Erasa said softly, surprising the other three.

Gohanna looked at Erasa as though she had grown another head. Then her look softened into a fond look she often had around the blonde. “You know something? You are the first person to ever say that. The others just said how it was so typical of my dad.” She leaned back and looked at the sky with a sigh. “He could have been here. He should be here. He doesn’t even know he has a son. He doesn’t even know he has a granddaughter.” She cut herself off quickly; she couldn’t believe she’d just said that.

“Granddaughter?” Videl asked, mildly surprised. “You have a niece?”

Gohanna took the time to look at her friends. She had been getting close to the trio, but she had not imagined telling them about Pan for several more months. She knew that all she had to do was not correct Videl and she would be home free. However, she had thus far avoided outright lying. And she could never be ashamed of being a mother.

“No,” she said softly, watching their reactions. “I have a daughter.”

Complete silence. The trio was sure that they had misheard the taller girl. When it became clear that Gohanna was not going to repeat herself Erasa gathered her courage, “A daughter?”

Gohanna had to admit, if only to herself, that she was enjoying their reactions. They really were quite amusing, “Yup, she’s six.”

That caused a start, “But how?” Videl demanded. “You’re our age. How could you possibly have a six year old daughter?”

Now comes the hard part, Gohanna thought with a sigh. She knew now was the time for some creative editing. “You guys know that I have secrets. This is just one. There’s a lot you don’t know yet.”

“Why not?” Videl said exasperated.

Gohanna gave her a hard look. “I’m not going to meet you and automatically trust you with everything. Life doesn’t work like that. Trust takes time.”  
Videl looked away, knowing she was right but her pride not allowing her to admit it.

“Eventually I’ll tell you everything. But for now I’ll tell you the main parts. Seven years ago I found myself alone with a very bad man. And two months later I realized I was pregnant. I hadn’t even considered it a possibility; I thought I was too young.”

All three of her listeners had gone white. Videl, however, was quickly transitioning from white to red in her rage. “Some miserable bastard raped a little girl. I’ll kill him!” She quickly followed up by saying, “And for hurting you, of course.”

Gohanna hastened to reassure the girl, “I know what you mean. I rather prefer when people focus on the pedophilia rather than focus on me…that sounded bad.”

“No we understand what you meant.” It was Sharpner who spoke this time. He felt even worse knowing now what she had gone through. Gohanna noticed this, “Sharpner, if you try and treat me any different I’ll put you through the wall.”

Although a little surprised by the uncharacteristic violence, he actually felt reassured. They were back to their teasing; things couldn’t be as bad between them as he had thought.

“Wow,” Erasa said shocked. “Usually Videl is the violent one.” Rather than embarrass either girl, they actually looked rather proud.

Gohanna decided to get back on track, “I’m not any different that I was yesterday. The only difference is you know more about what that entails.”

“Hey, is that why you won’t hang out with us after school?” Erasa asked.

A little surprised by the interruption, Gohanna answered, “Yeah. I don’t have a cell phone to call home and say if I’ll be late or not. And Goten and Pan have mild separation issues so I don’t want to just not show up one night.”

“Goten?” Erasa asked at the same time Sharpner said, “Pan?”

“My little brother. He’s two weeks older than Pan—my daughter.”

It was Videl who asked, “Can we meet her?”

Gohanna paused, considering, “Not during the week, obviously. We could get together on a weekend, but I’d need advanced notice.”

They were all eager to set a time, but Videl brought up a potential problem, “If we go around in Satan City people from school may start talking. If you don’t want some really nasty rumors we may need to choose somewhere else.”

“Hmm,” Gohanna said in agreement, thinking. “You guys really can’t come to my house, that’s a ten-hour round-trip for you guys.” She grinned at the looks of horror on her friends’ faces. She had a sudden thought, “We could go out in West City. I have some friends there; I can drop Goten off so he won’t feel bad if he’s not included.”

“Why not bring him too?” Erasa asked.

Gohanna shuddered at the thought, “If we go to West City, Goten will want to play with Trunks. The thought of trying to watch all three of them while also paying attention to you guys…just no. That could not possibly end well.”

Videl was confused, Gohanna was so polite, how bad could her brother and daughter be? She asked as much and was surprised at the snort she received.

“Goten and Pan are very well behaved until Trunks gets involved.”

“He’s a bad influence?” Erasa asked.

Gohanna sighed, “Not so much a bad influence as…he’s in the stage where he thinks girls his age are ‘icky’,” she actually used air quotes, much to the trio’s amusement, “so he won’t let Pan play which annoys her and Goten and Trunks alone aren’t bad, but they feed off each other to the point of being absolute terrors. So if we had all three Goten and Trunks would be bouncing off the walls and Pan would be yelling at them for leaving her out and it always ends in a fight.” She shook her head.

“Wow,” Erasa said shocked.

Gohanna smirked, “The way they fight I would not be at all surprised if they ended up married.”

Sharpner was confused, “You just said they can’t get along and he wants nothing to do with her. Why would you think they’ get married?”

Sharpner suddenly found himself the recipient of female wisdom as all three girls turned towards him.

“It’s totally obvious,” Erasa said, “Why else would he be teasing her so much?”

Gohanna took over, “He would totally be pulling her pigtails if she had any.”

Videl finished up, “It’s his way to make sure she’s paying attention to him! He just doesn’t realize he’s better off just being nice.”

The girls nodded to each other in agreement. Sharpner just looked at them like they had lost their minds. He thought briefly about asking again but he knew that better men than he had tried and failed to understand female logic. He decided he was better off just letting it go.

“So where in West City do you want to meet up?”

Gohanna considered for a moment. There was really only one place she knew in West City…”Capsule Corp? At 10?”  
They all quickly agreed and were about to say more when the bell rang signaling the end of free period. They all shot off quickly, desperate not to be late for class.


	5. The outing

“But I wanna go too!” whined Goten.

Chichi had been overjoyed when she heard Gohanna had plans to go out with her friends. She had mixed feelings when she realized Pan was going too, but she knew it was pointless to try and argue.

Goten was perfectly happy with the fact that he was going to get to play with Trunks, until, that is, he found out Pan was going to meet Gohanna’s friends.

Gohanna leaned down, looking her little brother in the eye, “Goten,” she said in a gentle yet firm voice, “you know that my friends don’t know about Saiyans or ki and they have no idea how strong we are. You also know that you and Trunks can’t keep from showing off. It would be confusing for my friends. Pan doesn’t show off like that so there isn’t as much danger of that happening.”

Gohanna knew instantly that she had said the wrong thing when she saw the tears welling up in Goten’s eyes. “I’m sorry I’m bad,” he said, voice wobbling.

Gohanna suddenly found her arms full of two little demisaiyans; apparently Trunks had realized they had arrived and came to greet them. Apparently he was just as upset that he wasn’t getting to meet his big sister’s friends.

Gohanna felt torn, she hated upsetting her little brothers, on the other hand, though, she really couldn’t keep an eye on all of them. “Guys, don’t you want to play?”

“You don’t like us anymore!” Goten wailed.

“No! I…” she sighed, knowing she was beaten. “If you come you guys need to promise to behave. If you don’t I’m telling your moms.” She threatened.

“Really!?” Trunks exclaimed.

‘I am soooooo going to regret this,’ she thought, giving the boy a light smile, “Yeah.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” The boys chorused in unison, doing a little jig.

Bulma came out from her hiding place by the door, smirking, “I hope you realize that you just got played.”

Gohanna sighed, resigned and amused, “I know. It will work less when they aren’t so adorable anymore.”

Bulma decided to help the girl out, “Trunks,” she called out, “if you do anything to disrupt Gohanna’s time with her friends you won’t get any dessert for a week!”

Both boys gasped in horror, but she wasn’t done, “And I’ll tell Chichi to do the same for you Goten.”

Both boys immediately promised to be good, but Gohanna couldn’t help but wonder if dessert was enough to stop the rambunctious duo.

Pan scowled at the boys. Trunks stuck his tongue out at her, prompting Bulma to smack him upside the head.

Gohanna kneeled down and looked her daughter in the eyes, “What’s wrong, honey?”

Pan kicked the ground, embarrassed. “You’re my mom. I don’t get to meet Bulma’s friends or Grandma’s friends, why should they meet your friends? Besides, I was the only one invited! They don’t let me play with them, why do they get to join in my stuff?”

Gohanna looked at the boys, who at least had the decency to look sheepish. “She has a point,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. “You guys never let her join in, why should she let you?”

Goten looked surprised and hurt as he looked at Pan, “Don’t you love me?”

Pan glared at the ground, yes she loved him, but she hated having to share with Trunks who was always mean to her.

Gohanna considered the children in front of her, she wondered if this would help or just make Trunks even more of a brat about Pan. “I think it’s only fair that Pan gets to decide who can come. My friends are coming to meet her after all.”

Trunks was upset, he knew he was going to get left behind. He glared at the ground.

Pan felt elated; she wouldn’t have to put up with the bratty prince! She was just about to say so when she stopped. Her mother had always told her that she should learn from Trunks’ actions and try not to hurt people’s feelings by leaving them out. She dearly wanted to tell him he couldn’t come, but she knew her mother would be disappointed. “They can come,” she said reluctantly.

Everyone in the yard was very surprised. They really had expected her to exclude at least Trunks. “Why?” Bulma asked.

“Cause I don’t like it when they leave me out, so I’m not gonna leave them out.”

Gohanna felt an odd mixture of pride and disappointment. She was very proud of her daughter’s maturity and fairness. On the other hand, she had been so close to getting out of having to take the boys as well. Oh well. At least the previous threat would ensure their behavior.  
\------------------  
Videl, Erasa and Sharpner were very surprised when they saw Gohanna surrounded by three little children rather than the one they had expected. With a long-suffering tone she explained what happened and how they had expertly played her. When Sharpner started laughing she simply instructed the kids to give him their best puppy-dog looks. Needless to say, he stopped laughing.

From there the group of seven set out, not really going anywhere, but simply walking around. They ended up in a park with a playground and Gohanna quickly gave the kids permission to run free, leaving the four friends to talk.

Videl had clearly been holder her tongue thus far, something Gohanna appreciated, but now she could talk without worrying about the kids overhearing, “Isn’t that Bulma Briefs’ son?”

Gohanna was surprised, she hadn’t realized Trunks was so recognizable, “Yeah he is. Bulma is sort of my godmother.”

They were shocked, “How is that possible?” Videl asked.

“Well she and my dad were friends when they were younger. I’ve known her since I was four.”

“She knew your dad?” Erasa asked.

“Yeah, in the interest of full disclosure I also know Yamcha Bandit and Master Roshi.”

Sharpner and Videl had hearts in their eyes at the thought of meeting a master like Master Roshi. Erasa was just excited at the thought she might get to meet someone as hot as Yamcha Bandit.

Despite her excitement Videl couldn’t help but feel exasperated, how many other super famous people did the girl know? When she asked as much they were all surprised at the response. “Well my grandfather is the Ox King.”

They just stared at her. Finally Sharpner gathered his wits enough to ask the obvious question, “You’re a princess?”

This gave Gohanna a pause, “I guess so. I’ve never really thought of it like that. I mean, I know he’s a king and that my mother is the crown princess, but to me they are just family.”

Somehow the trio wasn’t surprised. It was just like her to completely overlook fame. This did explain how she was able to make friends with Videl so easily. Videl wasn’t nearly as famous as most of her friends/family.

They all sat in silence for about ten minutes, all trying to adjust to these new discoveries. Gohanna was trying to think how much more she wanted to tell them today. Definitely nothing about Saiyans, Namek or Cell. They just weren’t there yet.

“Are we ever going to know everything?” Videl asked quietly, drawing the attention of the rest of the group. Her voice sounded oddly distant, as though her mind was miles away.

Gohanna sighed, she felt bad for keeping secrets, but she refused to tell more than she was ready for them to know. They did deserve an explanation though. “I have had a very odd, very unconventional life,” she began, catching their attention, “I have seen and done things that you could never imagine. If I told you everything now you would never believe me. It’s hard trying to judge how much to tell you at a time. I’ve never had to tell people things, they were there, they already knew everything. The only secret I ever had is the only one I never would have shared.”

Erasa looked confused, “What secret?”

The other two were obviously just as confused, but were not nearly as willing to admit to it.

Gohanna laughed humorlessly, “That I was raped. What you need to understand is I was already two months pregnant before I even told my mother. And I only did so because I was pregnant. If I hadn’t gotten pregnant, I would never have told anybody.”

They all looked at her surprised at her firm tone. Sharpner couldn’t help but ask, “Why not? You said yourself it wasn’t your fault.”

Videl and Erasa however felt that they understood. “You were ashamed, weren’t you?” Videl asked.

Gohanna nodded, not surprised that Videl would understand her feelings. “I can’t explain why yet, but I have been fighting since I was little. You know that one of the biggest things they teach you in martial arts is mental discipline. You must not be weak. My teacher was always after me about being strong and never allowing myself to be weak. After hearing that nonstop for seven years that was all I could think afterwards. When I told them, everything turned out alright, they told me it wasn’t my fault and nothing could have prevented what happened and that was very reassuring. It was also very unexpected. Without the pressure of needing to explain a pregnancy I would never have told them.”

Sharpner looked confused, “Look I’ve never been raped and I’m not a girl so maybe I just don’t get it. Would it really have been that bad?”

Gohanna frowned thoughtfully, how to explain? “You really admire Mr. Satan right?"

“Yeah,” Sharpner said.

“And do you remember how I had to rescue you from being mugged?”

Sharpner felt vaguely embarrassed at the phrasing and the fact that she would tell the other two about it, but decided not to comment. Instead he simply agreed again.

“Now, would you ever tell Mr. Satan that you would have been mugged if I hadn’t saved you?”

Sharpner looked horrified, “Of course not!” he cried.

She smirked, “And why not?”

“I don’t want him to think I’m weak!” He blinked, suddenly getting the point of the tangent. “Oh.”

“Yeah. ‘Oh.’ There was more to it too, but that was a really big part of it. As a girl surrounded by fighters more than twice my age, I was desperate to not be a burden and I needed to not be coddled.”

Videl wanted to know, “Do you wish that you hadn’t gotten pregnant and could have kept it a secret?”

Gohanna smiled at the girl, “Now that’s a complicated question with several different answers. I wish I hadn’t been raped. I don’t wish I hadn’t gotten pregnant. It makes things easier for everyone to know, but I wish they didn’t.”

Erasa asked, “You don’t regret getting pregnant? But isn’t raising a kid hard?”

“That’s also a complicated question. Life would probably be so much easier if I hadn’t gotten pregnant, but I could never regret having Pan.”

This time Sharpner asked, “It doesn’t bother you that she was the product of rape?”

Gohanna sighed, sounding tired. “At first it really bothered me. She looks a great deal like me which helped a lot. But there are parts of him in there. But I’ve seen proof that nurture is much more important than nature and he has never met Pan and has nothing to do with who she is. She is nothing like him and the only way she looks like him is her hair.”

Gohanna laughed as three pairs of eyes fixed upon her daughter’s hair. “She did not get that straight hair from me. We like to think she got that from my mother.”

Sharpner took this opportunity to stick his foot in his mouth, “Do you have any pictures of the dude?”

Before Gohanna could do more than give him a deadpan look, Erasa and Videl both smacked him upside the head.

“Yeah,” Videl said sarcastically, “I bet after he raped her she asked for a picture to remember him by. Think before you speak, idiot.”

“Sorry,” he muttered bitterly, rubbing his aching head, though they could all tell that he meant it.

Gohanna smiled, “It’s okay. And I could get pictures if I wanted them.”

This got their attention. Bemused, Erasa asked, “What?”

“One of my friends is actually married to his twin sister. She has pictures of him, though she may have burned them. She was really pissed when she found out what he did. They actually look a lot alike. All you really have to do is imagine her without breasts and with black hair.”

“Were they already married? Is that how he got to you?” Videl asked.

“No,” Gohanna said, “they started dating after Pan was born. For my friend it was love at first sight, but it took time to win her over. He actually came over to talk to me about how I felt about him still liking 18.”

“18?” Videl asked. “Is that a name?”

“It’s complicated. But yes, her name is 18. His is 17.”

Sharpner couldn’t help himself, “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Gohanna couldn’t help but chuckle, “Yeah, the guy who names them was not the most creative dude. 18 seems to like her name though so we try not to say anything about it.”

They all continued chatting idly, not about anything important though. Eventually one of them brought up the upcoming WMAT.

“You have to enter, “Erasa whined. “You and Videl would totally wipe the floor with everyone.

“That’s the problem,” Gohanna said, “I wouldn’t have any competition unless my friends entered. And I can fight them whenever I want, so what’s the point?”  
“What about my dad?” Videl asked, “You don’t think he’s a challenge?”

Gohanna thought hard. She knew Videl would be overjoyed to learn that her father was a fraud. Sharpner though, would be devastated. And she really didn’t have any proof. And how would she explain how she knew? If she said she’d been there she would immediately be connected with the ‘Delivery Girl.’ And that would lead to ki and saiyans. She wanted to tell them, but they weren’t there yet. She needed them to know that she would not lie to them, no matter how crazy it sounded. And she just didn’t think they would take well to the thought of aliens. So how to answer? She decided to just be flippant, “I’ll make him eat pavement.”

Videl snorted, “Someone sure is cocky. Better not let your mouth get you into trouble.”

Gohanna smirked, “I always follow through. I never leave a girl unsatisfied.”

The trio was surprised at just how much innuendo was infused in the girl’s words. They were also surprised at her daring; most at their school didn’t dare flirt with Videl. Videl however was panicking, no one but Sharpner and Erasa knew that she liked girls, how did Gohanna know? Sharpner and Erasa wondered as well.

Erasa decided to be blunt, “Are you flirting with Videl?”

Gohanna flushed, she hadn’t expected to be called out on her words, “Mostly I was just teasing.”

Videl felt a little disappointed, she had been crushing on the girl and underneath the horror of being outted to her new friend she had hopeful that the girl returned her feelings. It was a letdown to hear it was mostly teasing. Wait a minute, her head snapped up, “Mostly?” she asked.

Gohanna’s blush deepened and she rubbed the back of her neck in her discomfort. “I may have been flirting,” she mumbled almost inaudibly, “just a little.”

"Do you like Videl?” Erasa asked, causing the others to start, emotions were meant to be tiptoed around and denied, didn’t the ditzy blonde know that?

Gohanna’s whole face was on fire and she started stuttering, unable to get a whole word out. Videl’s face was just as red.

Sharpner stuck his foot in his mouth again, “Come on, Erasa, what’re the odds they’re both gay?” He then seemed to realize what he’d just said, “Oh shit,” he whimpered.

Videl glared at him, promising violence in his near future. Gohanna was just as upset; she actually sent a tiny ki blast at him, hitting him on his backside, causing him to shout in surprise and pain. The other two, not having seen the blast, couldn’t figure out what had hit him. Gohanna took this time to look at the kids, ensuring they were still too far away to hear anything. “To answer your question, Sharpner, I don’t consider myself gay.” Videl’s heart dropped. “I’ve always heard how love is supposed to be the most important part of a relationship and that has led to a…confusion about sexuality. If I fell in love with a guy, would I not start a relationship with him because I ‘don’t like’ men? What about the reverse? I don’t look at either sex and see eye candy or potential sexual partners. I don’t see how anybody can decide that they are only interested in one gender and risk never meeting their perfect match.”

The trio let the words wash over them, surprised at the logic and maturity of them. It made sense, but they still knew that their orientations would remain unaltered. Erasa decided to re-ask her question, “Do you like Videl?”

Gohanna took a deep breath, “Erasa, if I did like Videl that would be something she and I would need to discuss privately. Here and now is neither the time nor place for such a conversation.”

Videl’s heart started beating quickly; she hadn’t said no! She quickly steeled her nerves and blurted, “Will you go out with me?”

Sharpner and Erasa gaped, Videl was incredibly insecure about her sexuality, she liked to pretend she was just not interested in dating. They couldn’t believe she had just asked a girl on a date.

Gohanna looked at Videl, searching her face for some deception or trickery. When she found none she decided to go for it. She smiled and felt pleased when she noticed the apprehension melt out of Videl’s frame, “I’d love to. We’ll need to plan around Pan though.”

Videl felt utterly relieved and overjoyed that she had not been rejected. The other two were happy for their friends. They were suddenly interrupted by the kids appearing out of nowhere and declaring it was time to go. They decided not to argue and instead headed out of the park. 

Gohanna stopped at the street and turned to her friends. “You guys should head home now. You all have to get back to Satan City so you should get a move on.”

“What about you?” Videl asked. “You have to get all the way back to the mountains.”

Gohanna smiled, “I told my mom we’d spend the night at Capsule Corp. We just need to walk for about ten minutes. 

With that the four friends said goodbye and parted ways. 

“Momma?” Pan asked.

Gohanna looked down at her daughter, “Yeah, baby?”

“Do we have to stay at Capsule Corp tonight?”

Gohanna smirked, “Yes, sweetie. Grandma needs some alone time. Don’t worry, after how mice you were by letting them come, I’m sure Trunks and Goten will be more than happy to let you play with them.” She eyed the boys with a look that clearly said ‘or else.’

Trunks grumbled, “Yeah she can come too.”

Pan beamed, causing a small blush to appear on Trunks’ cheeks.

Gohanna smirked again, yeah; they were definitely going to date at some point. She could only hope Pan gave Trunks hell the first time he asked her out.


	6. Telling Mom Again

Gohanna couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu as she approached her mother in the kitchen. Here she was, once again dreading her mother’s reaction to her news. Despite the similarities she could see the differences between then and now; there were signs of their children everywhere, and this time she was confident she could deal with the potential fallout.

“Mother, I need to talk to you.”

Chichi also felt the sense of déjà vu; she clearly remembered the last time she had heard those words while doing the dishes. She quickly rinsed her hands and joined her daughter in the living room.

Gohanna considered how to tell her mother about Videl; she knew how much her mother wanted more grandchildren.

“Mother, I have a date.”

“That’s great!” Chichi exclaimed. She looked at her daughter and upon seeing the troubled look hesitantly said, “That’s not great?”

Gohanna took a deep breath and said, “With a girl.”

Chichi blinked, “You are going on a date…with a girl?”

Gohanna let out the breath she had been holding. “Yeah,” she said.

Her mother blinked again, “Oh.”

“Oh?” Gohanna asked incredulously. “That’s it? I thought you would be furious.”

Chichi looked at her, “I won’t say I’m not surprised, but I am not upset with you.”

Gohanna was starting to wonder if she was dreaming. “But you’ve always talked about me finding a husband and giving you grandchildren!”

Chichi sighed and leaned back into the couch. “Do you remember when Pan was born?” she asked. Gohanna had a look of bemusement but confirmed that she did.

“I will never forget the look on your face the first time you held your child.” Chichi’s voice grew distant as she reminisced. “You looked completely at peace. Until I saw you then I never realized just how strained you always looked. And I knew part of it was the fighting, but I realized that part of it was me. And so I’ve tried to pull back, didn’t you ever wonder why I stopped making you study so much?”

Gohanna was surprised at the direction the conversation had taken. “I always thought it was because you realized I needed time for Pan.”

“That too. But I realized that Pan was the first thing you ever really decided for yourself and that being able to choose for yourself made you almost as happy as she did. And when I saw how happy you were I knew I wanted nothing more than for you to be happy. So I stopped insisting you study. And if you want to have a wife instead of a husband,” she took a deep breath, “I will accept that. I just need a little time to adjust; I didn’t suspect at all. But I still love you.”

Gohanna smiled as she leaned on her mother who obligingly began running her fingers through her hair. “You’ll like Videl. She’s a fighter; you could teach her some of your moves.”

They both laughed at that. Chichi was thinking about something else, “Are you going to tell the others?”

“Eventually. I’m not really in any rush. They’ll only add unnecessary pressure, you know?”

“So when do I get to meet her?”

This caused Gohanna to pause, “I don’t know. Oh!” she exclaimed. “I kinda, sorta, maybe entered myself in the WMAT. Just a little.”

Gohanna cringed, waiting for her mother to explode. Surprisingly Chichi remained calm, “Are you sure that’s a good idea? If you enter I expect you to win.”

Gohanna smiled at her mother. “I’m sure. I never cared that Hercule was lying to the world before because we never really heard it. But now that I’m going to school I keep hearing him. He’s not only annoying, he’s offensive. I can’t wait to expose him for the fraud he is.”

Chichi looked at her daughter worriedly, “This doesn’t sound like you. Are you sure?”

Gohanna sighed, “You haven’t heard him. He’s always going on about how great he is even though his daughter had surpassed him. And he insults the Z fighters! He says we’re cheating with cheap light tricks.”

Chichi was fuming, “How dare he! And ki has been a part of martial arts for centuries, how dare he denounce it just because he can’t do it.”

“I have a plan for when he and I fight,” Gohanna said with a smirk.

Chichi raised a brow, “Oh? And what exactly does that entail?”

“It’s very simple. He’s so cocky he’ll go along when I ask him to swear on his honor as a martial artist that he will take the fight seriously and that he won’t hold back.”

“How will that help?” Chichi asked, confused.  
“Because the second he loses he’ll start going on about how he let me win. And he’ll try to convince people it was all his idea. All I have to do then is call him on it, he swore not to hold back so either he broke his oath upon his honor or he is lying to save face. It’ll come down to him being forced to admit defeat or he will be disgraced.”

Chichi had another idea for her scheming child, “Do you intend to bring up the Cell Games?”

“I don’t know yet. I don’t want everyone to worship me; I just want them to stop worshipping him. I think it will come down to how far he tries to push the ‘I meant for that to happen’ shtick. If it goes too far I will bring up the Cell Games. But if he accepts his defeat at least somewhat gracefully I won’t.”

“Have you thought this through? There is a reason none of the Z fighters are public; we value our privacy. And what about Pan?”

“I’ve talked to the others and they are just as fed up with Hercule. And Pan has a good head on her shoulders and she wouldn’t let fame go to her head. I think we’re hoping to just shut Hercule up without exposing us. I don’t know if that’s possible at this point. We should have done something years ago.”

Chichi sighed, “You sound like you’ve given this a lot of thought. I hope you are prepared for the fallout. You should know, Bulma called, your father is coming back for a day. He’s coming the day of the tournament.”

Gohanna had a blank face. Her voice was completely emotionless as she said, “Are you serious?”

Chichi felt confused, “I thought you’d be happy about this. Don’t you want to see your father?”

“He gets to come back for one day and he picks the tournament? We’ll barely get any time with him! We’ll be busy fighting; you’ll be in the stand. You wouldn’t get any time alone with him.”

Chichi gasped, she hadn’t even thought about that; she’d only been concerned with the fact that he would be around.

Gohanna reached out and placed a steadying hand on her mother’s shoulder. They sat in silence for a while just taking comfort in each other’s presence. This moment of tranquility was ruined by the arrival of their children, begging for food.

While Chichi went into the kitchen to begin preparing dinner, trusting Gohanna to keep the kids entertained, Gohanna looked at the children and knew she could not keep silent about her thoughts.

“Goten, Pan, sit down, I need to talk to you.” She waited until she had their undivided attention; she could also tell her mother was listening in.

“Do you remember me telling you about the Cell Games and how my dad died?” She waited until they both nodded before she went on, “Well he is coming back the day of the WMAT.”

Goten felt excited, but he was confused by his sister’s lack of excitement, “What’s wrong?”

Gohanna sighed, “Pan,” she focused on her daughter, “I want you to stay away from your grandfather.” That request was followed by a loud crash from the kitchen as Chichi dropped something out of shock.

“Why?” Pan asked. Goten looked just as interested. They had heard about how great Goku was from Chichi for years. Why was Gohanna trying ti keep him away?  
Gohanna looked at Goten, “I can’t tell you to stay away from your father, but I’m going to strongly recommend to mom that you stay away from him. Pan is my daughter, however, and I am telling her. No good will come of you spending tie with him.”

“Explain.” Chichi ordered, standing at the entrance to the room. Gohanna continued looking at the children as she spoke, “My dad was a good man. He was a hero and you should be proud to be related to someone like him. However, he wasn’t a very good family member. I’ve spent most of my life without Dad. Since I was four, he’s almost always been gone. Even when he was here he wasn’t really here for us, he was only ever really focused on training; I certainly didn’t have any real conversations with him during that time.

“What I’m trying to say is that I don’t want you guys getting close to him because it’ll hurt you when he leaves. And he will leave. It’s what he does. And I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Chichi felt like she had been slapped. She’d known for a long time that Gohanna was upset with Goku, but she hadn’t thought it was anything more than a phase. It would devastate Goku when he found out that he was barred from having any sort of relationship with his granddaughter. And Goten almost always listened to Gohanna so he wouldn’t get a chance with his son either. Part of Chichi couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her husband, but another, more vindictive part, couldn’t help but feel that he had brought this on himself; he should have spent more time with his family.

“So we can’t talk to him?” Goten asked.

Gohanna rushed to reassure him, “Not at all. I just don’t want you to get attached. Maybe treat him like a friend rather than a father. You shouldn’t count on him for anything; you’ll just end up being disappointed. It shouldn’t be a problem though, we’re all going to be busy the day of the tournament, there won’t be a lot of time to talk.”

Gohanna knew that she needed to give them time to digest this request so she sent them outside to play, leaving her alone with her mother.

Chichi asked, “Don’t you think that was a little harsh?”

Gohanna sighed, “Not really. I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. He always leaves mother, you can’t deny that.”

“I’ve always preferred to think of it as he always comes back.”

“After how long? It’s been seven years. He can’t just skip into our lives after so long and expect to still have a place in them. And I’m not going to sit around and let him break my daughter’s heart.”

“He isn’t a bad person.”

“No he’s not. He is a very good person. But I don’t think he understands that people have feelings or that he hurts them. He came back after being gone for two years and rather than apologize he asked what was for dinner. He doesn’t understand that he has responsibilities to us. And I know it hurts you and it hurts me. He’s never going to change so I just need to make sure he doesn’t get a chance to hurt anyone else.”

“I won’t tell Goten not to have a relationship with his father. But I understand what you’re getting at. I will monitor their interaction and act appropriately.”  
Gohanna gave her mother a weary smile, “Let me help you with dinner.”

They let their conversation end, knowing it was far from over, and went to fix dinner. With three saiyans there was a lot to do.


	7. Confrontation

Several weeks later…

It had been weeks since the day Gohanna had come out to her mother. Since that day she and Videl had gone out a total of four times and had agreed that they would be girlfriend and girlfriend. Videl had not come out to anyone but Erasa and Sharpner so they were keeping their relationship secret. Gohanna convinced Videl to come out as her girlfriend to the rest of the Z fighters at the tournament.

The change in their relationship prompted Gohanna to confide in the group more. She also knew she needed to explain things to them before the tournament; it would be hard to explain her father being there. She ended up telling them everything, Saiyans, dragon balls, Cell, everything. They had taken it rather well, though she suspected that had more to do with the fact that they hadn’t believed her. That quickly changed after she turned Super Saiyan. Surprising Videl was the one who took it the worst—she fainted. When she woke up she demanded to know if Gohanna had really been the one to beat Cell. When she said yes Videl had been overjoyed and demanded that she make her father eat his words.

Gohanna began training Videl and Sharpner; both were very excited to learn how to fly. They hadn’t even really minded sharing their lessons with Pan and Goten who had done better jobs than they had and had soon been flying around their heads while they were trying to concentrate.

It was now the day of the tournament and Gohanna couldn’t be more excited. Today was the day she would become World Champ and shut Hercule up. Much more exciting though was the fact that she would be introducing Videl to everyone as her girlfriend. She was dreading Yamcha and Krillin’s reactions; she could imagine just how skeevy they would be.

Their group had just arrived and everyone was starting to look for Goku. Before anyone could find him they heard a shout, “Hey, Gohanna!” The entire group turned around and saw three teenagers heading their way.

“Friends of yours?” Bulma asked.

Krillin smirked, “Ooh, does Gohanna have a boyfriend?” He was obviously focusing in on Sharpner.

Gohanna smirked as well, waiting for the trio to reach them. As the group was actually well hidden from other spectators Videl didn’t hesitate to give her a kiss in greeting. They broke apart to the sounds of choking. Gohanna turned towards Yamcha who had been the one to choke. He was standing next to Master Roshi who had a lecherous grin on his face. Yamcha, pointing at Videl, choked out, “You…and-and her?”

Gohanna smiled, “Guys,” she wrapped her arms around Videl’s waist, “this is my girlfriend, Videl.” Videl waved to the group.

Krillin blinked and said, “That would be hot if I couldn’t remember as a little five-year-old kid.”

Yamcha hummed in agreement.

Gohanna laughed at the looks on their faces. She looked around at the rest of the gang, Bulma and the Ox King looked surprised, Piccolo and Vegeta looked bored. She was distracted from her observations by Pan tugging on her hand. She kneeled down, “What is it, honey?”

Pan asked, “Is Videl going to be my Dad now?”

Videl and Gohanna choked while the majority of the group started laughing at them. “No,” Gohanna gasped out, “we are a very long way away from discussing children.”

Chichi warmly greeted Videl, surprising most of the Z fighters.

“I thought you wanted Gohanna to have a husband?” Bulma asked, surprised at the non-reaction of the passionate woman.

Chichi smiled, “Gohanna is happy and that’s what is most important. Besides,” she said teasingly, “from what I’ve heard no boy the world over could be as fascinating as Videl here.”

The girls both turned bright red prompting the others to laugh at them again. While they were caught up in their laughter they completely missed the sudden addition to their group. It was harder to miss the familiar, cheerful voice, “Hey guys, what’s so funny?”

The group suddenly sobered up as they turned to see Goku smiling at them without a care in the world. While this was reassuring to the majority of the group, Chichi saw in that grin the truth of her daughter’s warning; he did not feel bad about leaving and likely would not feel bad when he left again. She made her decision quickly as she leaned down to whisper in her son’s ear, “Do you remember what your sister said?”

Goten looked up at her, “Yeah.”

“Listen to her.”

“OK.”

Goku was having a great time catching up with his friends, but he couldn’t help but wonder why his family hadn’t greeted him yet. He looked around but couldn’t see his daughter. It didn’t help that he had no idea what she looked like now. He decided to feel out her ki. He was surprised to find her standing 20 ft. away. She was talking to three other teenagers and had her arm around a young girl. She seemed to be ignoring his presence; he could tell from the looks on the other teens’ faces that they knew it too.

He decided to take a minute to look at the woman his little girl had grown into. She had grown her hair out again, it was now waist length and in a tight braid. She had the same large doe eyes that she’d had when she was little. He could sense how strong she had gotten, but he suspected that she was hiding her true strength. He was distracted from his observation when he caught sight of something strange—there was a mini-him!

“Well hi there. Who are you?”

Gohanna gritted her teeth at the question. If he’d been around he would never have needed to ask that question. The trio was surprised at the man’s nonchalant tone. They hadn’t really taken Gohanna seriously when she had ranted about his lack of empathy. Now they believed her, he really didn’t seem to care at all.

“I’m Goten.” Goten said, clinging to his mother.

Goku moved to hug his son but was stunned and hurt when Goten moved away from him. The majority of the group was stunned as well.

“Gohanna said we’re not supposed to get close to you.” Goten said, shocking the group further.

“Gohanna?” Goku asked his daughter, hurt. Then he realized that Goten had said we. He glanced down at the girl Gohanna had her arm around. “Why would you tell them that?”

Gohanna glared at him. “I was looking out for my family.”

Goku frowned, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Gohanna sneered, surprising everyone. “Doesn’t it? You don’t seem to have a problem making people love and need you and then abandoning them whenever you feel like it. You don’t care how much it hurts people, so someone else needs to. I’m not going to just sit back and let you hurt my family again. If Mother wants to keep you in her life that’s her choice. But Goten and Pan are too young to make that choice. So I did. I told Goten I couldn’t order him to avoid you, but I did recommend it.” 

The Z fighters were all shocked; they’d had no idea Gohanna felt like that. Goku felt like he’d been slapped, “I care. I left for you.”

“Bullshit!” she snapped. “You left for you. You wanted to train. That’s all you’ve ever wanted. You couldn’t care less about family, you’ve only ever cared about fighting—”

“That’s not true!” Goku interrupted, “I love you and your mother.”

“Nobody said you didn’t love us. But it is true. You were given one day to come back and you chose a day where you could fight. Mother is going to be in the stands, you won’t get to spend and time with her. And we’re in public; we aren’t exactly going to have and heart-to-heart talks. So what part of today is about your family?”

Gohanna took a deep breath to calm herself. She knew she had shocked everyone. She had been burying her feelings towards her father for so long that no one even knew she had them. She mentally kicked herself when she realized she had scared Pan. She quickly kneeled down to look her in the eye. “Hey, I’m sorry I yelled, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Pan’s voice was clear though quiet as she said, “It’s OK. You didn’t scare me. I’m a big girl.”

“Yes you are,” Gohanna said indulgently. “I’m still sorry.”

“I forgive you, Momma.”

“Momma?” Goku asked, beyond confused at this point.

Gohanna glared at her father again, but this time made a distinct effort to keep her voice down. “Mother wasn’t the only one who was pregnant when you died.”  
Goku’s eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of his skull. The little girl was his granddaughter? His shock quickly gave way to slight disapproval, “Who is her father?”

Gohanna quickly turned to Sharpner and Erasa; Pan did not know what had happened and was not going to find out this way and not when she was this young. “Can you guys take the kids to get registered? We’re going to be a little while.” The blonds quickly agreed and soon whisked the kids away.

Gohanna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Her…father was Android 17.” She wondered if that would be enough for him to understand. She guessed not due to his naiveté. She was surprised that he seemed to understand.

“How?” he asked, for once completely serious. “You were strong enough to kill Cell, how could an android overpower you?”

She was surprised at how accusatory he sounded, “It was before Cell, when we were trying to find them. It was right before Cell absorbed them.”

Goku clearly didn’t know how to respond to this. They all heard him mutter, “This is why King Kai told me to check up on all of you.”

Gohanna saw red, “King Kai told you to check on us and you didn’t?” She demanded, incensed.

Goku blinked innocently, “Once you die you aren’t really supposed to have any contact with the living.”

“When has that ever stopped any of us?” She stomped away, dragging Videl with her. They didn’t end up going very far, but in her anger Gohanna didn’t notice that the gang followed close enough to hear every words she said.

Goku was about to try and talk to her again, but Piccolo help him back. “Stop and listen. You might actually learn something.”

“Are you alright?” Videl asked.

“I’m fine,” Gohanna sighed. “I just get so worked up when I think about him.”

“I have to admit, I thought you were exaggerating when you told us how callous he can be. I don’t get how anyone can be that nice and still be cruel.”

Gohanna sighed again, “I don’t think he means to be. He hit his head when he was little; it resulted in a total personality change and memory loss. I think it may have also affected his relationships. I don’t think he understands that people have feelings other than his own or that he can hurt them. He leaves us and sees it as a fun adventure; he never considers that we might not agree that learning a new technique was more important than being with us. And he was surprised when my mom cried and didn’t understand why she was upset with him.

“And what bothers me the most is that Mother, Goten and I needed him and Mother missed him so much and I know he rarely if ever thinks about us. And to find out he was told to check on us and he couldn’t find the time to just look at us is infuriating. This is why I told Pan and Goten not to get close to him.”

“He’s still your dad,” Videl said gently.

“Not really,” Gohanna said thoughtfully, unaware of the dagger she had just plunged into Goku’s heart. “He is my father, but almost in the same way 17 is Pan’s father. Dads are involved in their kid’s life. A dad is someone you feel safe around. Since age four that has not been my father. Piccolo’s more like my dad than Son Goku.”

There was a pause, then, “I really don’t know how to respond to that,” Videl admitted.

“Me neither,” Gohanna said. “I know my feelings are justified and that I can’t just turn them off. But at the same time I know it’s a little unfair because even I know that there was no malice involved. That’s the hardest part, I’m so mad at him and I have every reason to be, but he didn’t mean any of it to be hurtful. It makes me feel as though I’m being unreasonable.”

“I don’t think you’re unreasonable,” Videl said, “You have every right to be upset that your dad abandoned you constantly when you were little. And it is natural to be upset that he abandoned Goten as well. Just because he didn’t mean anything by it doesn’t mean it’s excusable. It’s like in a spar if you hit too hard and break something; you didn’t mean to but you still hurt them.”

Gohanna smiled at the shorter girl, “You are absolutely brilliant. Thank you, Videl. Everyone else is so close to him, I’ve never really had a chance to talk about my feelings without being interrupted and being told I’m being unfair. Not being able to express my feelings has made it hard to try and move past them. I just wish I could understand. 

“I have a daughter now so I think I can take a parent’s perspective on the things that happened. I have been in awe of Pan since she was little. It was hard when I started school because I hated how much time I was missing with Pan. If there were ever a reason that I would need to go away for a while I would do anything I could to keep in contact and would come back the second I could. I don’t understand how adventures or fighting opportunities could possibly be more important than your own child.

“That’s why I say he doesn’t care about us. I see how I am with Pan and how Mother is with me and Goten and that is not how Father was with me. He would say the words, but actions speak louder than words and his actions said something different. I can’t let him do that to Pan or Goten. They have been surrounded by love and care and his actions would confuse and hurt them. I can’t and won’t let that happen. Even if it hurts him. He brought this on himself.”

Goku felt as though that dagger in his heart had been twisted, pulled out, jammed back in and twisted again. He had never dreamed Gohanna felt that way about him. He thought back on the last twenty years, how could it be that he little adventures had caused so much hurt? He had thought he was being a good father, but hearing his daughter’s words he couldn’t help but wonder how things would have been had he gone home immediately after Namek or even just asked King Kai to pass messages. But if he had they might have died. While he was on Yadrat he had stayed to learn Instant Transmission and that had saved their lived against Cell! But, he thought with a sinking heart, he could have used the technique to get home instantly, why hadn’t he done that? And while training Gohanna for the androids why couldn’t he have just once sat down with her and asked her about how she was dealing with everything?

Piccolo felt as though he had been slapped; he had never been a fan of Goku, why wouldn’t Gohanna talk to him about Goku? Before he let himself dwell on it for too long he considered it logically; Gohanna clearly felt uncomfortable about her feelings, it was really only the confrontation with her father that had prompted her to share at all. He was beginning to realize that she was far more private than he realized; both major secrets in her life were only shared when it became impossible to hide.

The rest felt shocked that Gohanna felt so differently about Goku that they did. They were also shocked that they’d had no idea.

Everything was quiet as everyone was stuck in their own thoughts. The silence was broken as the kids came running back, bristling with indignation.

“They’re making us fight in the kid’s round!” Trunks hollered, enraged.

Everyone was abruptly reminded that they were at the WMAT and they did not have the time to stand around like this. For the first time Goku regretted choosing today to come back. He and Gohanna would be busy for most of the day and he would not be able to try and reconnect with her. And he wouldn’t even be able to spend any time with Goten.

Gohanna wasn’t really all that surprised to find out that the rest of the gang had been spying on them. She could see the anguish and despair in Goku’s eyes and felt a twinge of regret. She also felt a little twinge of hope. Waiting for Goku to realize what he was doing to them clearly hadn’t worked, maybe throwing his failures in his face would. She knew that she had been let down too often to ever let him back in her life and she would never let him be close to Pan, but maybe it would be possible for him to have a relationship with Goten.

The fighters separated from the spectators and after registering the adults separated from the kids. Gohanna made sure to give the kids a firm reminder of no ki and no going Super Saiyan. She had the distinct feeling that it was all for naught and she was simply wasting her breath. She and Videl quickly left the group to go and finish qualifying. Gohanna felt relieved at getting away from the heavy atmosphere despite the fact that it was of her own creation. They quickly said their goodbyes to Sharpner and Erasa, hoping they could finish their registration before the start of the kid’s tournament.


	8. Start of the tournament

Thanks to running off ahead of the others, Videl and Gohanna managed to qualify for the tournament before Vegeta destroyed the punching machine. Gohanna was glad to see it go, there was so much more to martial arts than brute strength, a punching machine was a terrible way to judge the “best” fighters.

Despite how strong she knew Gohanna to be, Videl was still shocked to see how well Trunks, Goten and Pan could fight. To her they seemed fairly well matched. “Which one do you think will win?”

Gohanna considered for a moment, “They’re all fairly well matched. I think it will come down to whoever has to fight twice. One of them will have to fight the other in the semifinals and they will not be able to fight as well in the finals as the one who had an easy opponent. My guess is Goten would beat Pan, but lose to Trunks, but Trunks would lose to Pan.”

“Why?” Videl asked. “If Trunks can beat Goten and Goten can beat Pan then how can Pan beat Trunks?”

Gohanna smirked, “Trunks would try and taunt Pan and piss her off. Pan and Goten are like siblings, they get along well. However, Pan will never allow herself to lose to Trunks. And Trunks is too arrogant to believe for a second that he could lose to her so he won’t be taking her seriously. If she gets in quick before he wakes up from his delusions she can take him down a peg.”

The two returned to watching the tournament, ignoring the others as they joined them. Nevertheless the atmosphere became very awkward when Goku joined them. It became more so every time Goku commented on Goten or Pan’s strength. Gohanna’s voice became increasingly tight as she repeated that she had taught them. 

Eventually it was time for the semifinals. As Gohanna had said, Goten and Trunks ended up fighting in the semifinals while Pan was left with a regular kid. As she had said, Goten ended up losing the fight.

Vegeta took the opportunity to taunt Gohanna, “Such a shame that all your teaching will prove useless when your spawn faces off against a Saiyan elite.”

Gohanna merely raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Remind me again who won our last spar. It seems to me that the student of that person might stand a better chance of winning.”

Vegeta fumed at the response and levelled a deadly glare at Krillin who had laughed at Gohanna’s boast.

Gohanna’s prediction to Videl came true, Trunks was clearly not taking Pan seriously and while he was in the middle of taunting her, Pan charged at Trunks, tackling him out of the ring, using her weight to force him to land on his back with her on top of him, very carefully not touching the ground. There was a moment of silence before cheers erupted.

Gohanna smirked at Vegeta who looked embarrassed by his son, “I see you’ve been teaching him arrogance. Too bad while you were doing that I was teaching my kid how to fight.”

Videl watched, deeply embarrassed, as her father came out grand-standing and then lost to a six year old girl. She was disgusted to see the crowd buying his bullshit, but she consoled herself with the knowledge that it really was hard to believe a six year old could beat any adult, let alone the so-called champion.

As soon as they called for the adult fighters to begin preparing, the group left for the locker rooms. Gohanna broke off from the group halfway there and, confused, Videl asked where she was going.

“I want to go see the kids and tell them I’m proud of them for doing so well. Besides, I want to make sure Goten and Trunks don’t feel too bad about losing.”  
Goku felt more guilt at the knowledge that it had not occurred to him at all to check up on his son.

They continued on towards their goal leaving the teenager alone. She used her ki sense to quickly locate her daughter. She gave her a hug and told her how proud she was of her and that she was very clever to take advantage of Trunks’ arrogance.

After that Gohanna set off to find her little brothers. When she saw them she didn’t know whether to be exasperated or amused. She settled on incredulous. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.

Trunks and Goten jumped, but tried to play it off, “Sorry, miss, what are you talking about?” Trunks called out in a deep voice hoping the disguise would fool her.

She stared at him marveling at his stupidity, “Do you really think anyone is going to believe this?” She asked, gesturing at the outfit.

“What do you mean?” Trunks called out in the deep voice again, desperate.

“Trunks,” she said firmly, “I can sense your ki. That’s why I came in here. Your arms are not nearly proportional to the rest of your body. The mask doesn’t fit, Goten’s legs are obviously too short for a body that size. Goten has eye holes for Dende’s sake! Did you really think you would fool anybody?”

Goten and Trunks looked away, embarrassed. They hadn’t owned up to it yet so Gohanna decided to take it further.

“How are you expecting to fight? At some point Trunks you are going to try and kick or Goten will try to punch. What then? And do you expect to be calling out for Goten to kick or Trunks to punch? Don’t you think someone will find that strange? And people probably know…what’s this guy’s name?”

Trunks mumbled, “We don’t know,” in an embarrassed tone.

Gohanna gaped at them, “You don’t know? What exactly were you planning to do? Impersonate someone you don’t know who fights in a style you aren’t familiar with and hope nobody notices? You don’t think this guy might have friends or family in the audience? And what about when you go up against one of us? We can sense ki, we would recognize you and I tell you right now none of us would go easy on you in a fight and all we would have to do is expose you and you’d be disqualified. Plus I’ve already sent Pan to hang out with my mother, don’t you think she and Bulma are wondering where you are?”

Trunks and Goten wouldn’t look at her. They felt stupid for overlooking what seemed to be such obvious flaws in their supposedly brilliant plan.

“Besides,” Gohanna continued, “what are you going to do when this guy wakes up and tells people you attacked him and stole his clothes? That’s assault and theft which happens to be a crime. What then? You’d be caught red-handed.”

This startled Goten, “But Trunks said nothing bad would happen.”

Gohanna sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Goten, I know we’ve talked about not believing everything Trunks says. He tells you things that will get you to go along with him even when he knows good and well that they aren’t true.”

Trunks wondered if he should feel offended about what was being said about him. It wasn’t like it wasn’t true.

Gohanna sighed again, “Come on. Ditch the sheet and I’ll take you out to your moms.”

They did so, disappointed that they really wouldn’t get the chance to compete on the adult tournament after all.

After dealing with her little brothers Gohanna hurried back to the others, hoping she wasn’t late. Thankfully she arrived just as they were calling her name. She reached into the lottery box and pulled out the number 7. As she stepped back and rejoined the group she heard Videl hiss, “Where were you?”

Gohanna pinched the bridge of her nose again and said, “I have very idiotic little brothers.” Despite the questioning looks she was getting from the other Z fighters she refused to say more. They all noticed the twitch on her left eye when the announcer began calling for “Mighty Mask”. Nobody came forward and several tournament officials went off to look for the missing competitor. 

Things took a turn for the worst when he was found unconscious. It was obvious that someone had attacked him and given the circumstances it seemed obvious that the attacker had been a fellow competitor. It was against the rules to attack each other outside of matches and whoever was responsible would be disqualified. Unfortunately, nobody was owning up to it. The tournament was officially on hold until officials decided what to do. Gohanna stared into the crowd, searching for the actual culprits and was satisfied to see them looking guilty and rather sheepish.

After almost a half-hour of waiting it was announced that the tournament would go on as normal, but when Mighty Mask woke up they would determine who had attacked him and that person, if they had not already been beaten, would be disqualified. Mighty Mask’s opponent would get an automatic through to the next round when his match came unless Mighty Mask was awake and ready to compete.

The competitors all move into the waiting area as Krillin and Pintar’s match began.

Videl pounced on Gohanna the second they were away from the tournament officials, “What was that about?”

Gohanna sighed and repeated, “I have very idiotic little brothers.”

Videl stared uncomprehendingly before it dawned on her, “You mean Goten and Trunks attacked Mighty Mask? Why?”

They had attracted the attention of the rest of the Z fighters, though fortunately they were quiet enough to not be overheard by anyone else. Gohanna looked at them all and said, “They were going to pretend to be Mighty Mask so that they could compete in the tournament.”

Videl stared at her incredulously, “That’s moronic.”

Gohanna snorted, shaking her head, “You’re telling me. I told them all the reasons they were idiots and then sent them to their moms. And they better believe I will be telling Mother and Bulma what they did.”

Goku tried to intervene, “Come on Gohanna, don’t you think that’s a little harsh? They were just having a bit of fun.”

Gohanna looked at Goku as though he had grown another head, “Bit of fun?” she said in a voice full of disbelief. “It’s a crime. What they did was illegal. And they’ve had training in order to defend themselves, not to allow them to attack people who have something they want, they know better than that. And they know better than to try and sneak into the tournament. So no, Father,” she sneered, “it is not harsh. It’s good parenting. Not that you would know anything about that.” She very pointedly turned her back on him and started talking to Videl.

Gohanna inwardly sighed, she really didn’t mean to keep snapping at her father, it was like every single thing he said set her off. She had hoped that seven years might have changed her father, caused him to mature a little, but it seemed not.

Nobody was surprised to see Krillin wipe the floor with his opponent without any effort. They were all surprised, however, when Piccolo forfeited his match to Shin. Gohanna narrowed her eyes, focusing her senses on Shin. Piccolo must have sensed something dangerous in order for him to back down. According to her senses though there was nothing special about him. He noticed her attention and sent her a small smile. She took a moment to examine the smile. It didn’t look like a gesture of goodwill, but at the same time it did not seem to be taunting. It seemed almost like a deliberately mysterious smile in order to confuse her. She decided to ignore it in order to focus on Videl’s match. It didn’t take long for the enigmatic Shin to fade away, replaced by the infinitely more appealing site of her girlfriend laying a beat down on her opponent.

She let out a dreamy sigh, “That’s so hot.”

Krillin snorted and, seeing the dreamy look on her face, dissolved into a fit of giggles. Piccolo looked amused at his student, though that amusement faded quickly when he saw the girl frown and become more alert. “What is it?” he asked, drawing the attention of every person in the room. They all looked to the girl as she slowly said, “Something is wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Goku asked, slightly worried that he was about to be yelled at again.

Thankfully Gohanna was distracted as she replied, “His ki. It’s at the level of a normal person, but it hasn’t lowered a bit through the whole fight. Videl is wailing on him, but he doesn’t seem to have weakened at all.”

The Z fighters all focused their senses and confirmed what Gohanna had said. Her frown deepened, “This isn’t normal,” she said.

They watched with increasing trepidation as Videl wore herself out and Spopovitch’s ki remained completely level. Gohanna was almost relieved when Videl broke Spopovitch’s neck; at least this way the girl was safe. Unfortunately, she had a lock on both opponents’ ki and she knew that Spopovitch’s ki was still untouched.  
“Something is very, very wrong,” she said again. She called out, “Videl leave the ring.”

Before Videl could do so Spopovitch was back on his feet and fixing his neck. A very strong sense of dread came over Gohanna and she shouted at Videl to forfeit. Unfortunately, Videl was very stubborn and she refused.

The sight of her girlfriend being beaten and toyed with enraged Gohanna and she knew that if she wasn’t careful she could lose control of her power and that was dangerous. Her control snapped when Videl started crying while Spopovitch slowly crushed her head. She quickly ascended to Super Saiyan and struggled not to power up any further. Goku stepped forward and made to restrain her, but was stopped by a growled out, “Don’t touch me.”

Gohanna had just decided to say ti hell with it and run out and save the girl when another competitor, who looked a lot like Spopovitch she noted, told him to end it. As soon as Videl was out of the ring Gohanna dropped her transformation and ran to the girl’s side. She shooed away the medics with the stretcher and picked her girlfriend up herself. She vaguely heard her father saying something about going to Korin’s and quickly followed after the medics to the room where they would treat Videl.

She pointedly ignored the rather unsubtle suggestions that she leave the room and settled down to wait. If her Father was going to Korin’s then she just needed to wait for him to get back. If there were no senzu beans then Goku could just use Instant Transmission to take them to the lookout and Dende could heal her.  
Gohanna was jolted out of her thoughts by the rather loud arrival of Goku. She couldn’t help the sneer of disgust that appeared on her face. She wiped it off quickly by reminding herself that he was legitimately concerned for his daughter.

When Hercule noticed the girl he immediately demanded she leave. He was very surprised at the cold look on the girl’s face as she very firmly told him she was not leaving, but he was welcome to try and make her. He was just working himself up into a rant when Goku appeared in the room. He wordlessly handed her the bag of senzu and waited while she gave one to Videl. When he saw Hercule move to grab Gohanna, Goku placed a hand on Hercule and held him in place. Hercule, through the anger he felt at that ‘punk kid’ trying to feed something to his daughter, was shocked to find that he could not break the grip this strange man had on him. He was shocked even further to see Videl sit up suddenly, completely healed.

Videl ignored her father’s shouts of her name and grabbed Gohanna by her gi top and kissed her right on the lips.

Hercule was shocked; his little girl was kissing this punk kid? He panicked; they didn’t have a deal about Videl having a girlfriend, only a boyfriend.

“No, I forbid this! He yelled. “I told you any person you wanted to date needs to be stronger than me.”

Videl smirked at her father, “Well you’ll fight her soon enough.” Her sudden cockiness faded and she hesitantly asked, “You aren’t made that she’s a girl?”

Hercule, for all his faults, dearly loved his daughter and didn’t hesitate to say, “You’re my daughter, I don’t care if you like girls, you could fall for an alien and it wouldn’t change anything.”

Videl felt an urge to laugh, well at least he would take the half-Saiyan thing well, she thought, but any humor was buried under the sheer relief of her father’s acceptance.

Gohanna smiled and quietly left the room to allow the small family to have a private moment. Goku followed his daughter out and they both ignored the reporters waiting outside the room. They walked together in silence towards the arena.

Gohanna sighed, “Thank you for getting the senzu beans.”

Goku smiled hesitantly, “No problem.” There was a pause where neither was sure what to say. Eventually Goku broke the silence, “Gohanna?” He heard her sound of acknowledgement, “Why did that girl kiss you?”

Gohanna stopped suddenly, she hadn’t realized, but now that she thought about it Goku hadn’t shown up until after she had come out to the gang. She looked at her father, considering her response. Goku had never been anything but accepting and kind, it seemed farfetched that he would be homophobic. “Videl and I are dating,” she said, voice calm despite the fact that she was keeping a close eye on his reaction.

Goku blinked, “Oh,” he said simply.

Gohanna snorted and, seeing her father’s questioning look, said, “That was precisely Mother’s reaction.” 

They had almost returned to the waiting area when Goku stopped and grabbed Gohanna’s arm to stop her. He was momentarily struck by the fact that his little girl was now taller than him. He shook his head and focused on her eyes, which for once were simply curious rather than condemning or betrayed. “I want you to know, I have always loved you and your mother. I never meant to hurt either of you.”

Gohanna sighed and ran her free hand through her hair, “I know that you love us, I just wish that was enough. I can’t trust you anymore. I think I’ve broken Mother’s trust in you as well and I’m sorry about that, but you need to consider how we feel. It isn’t easy to just let things go the way you do. I don’t know that it’s even possible at this point. But for what it’s worth I don’t hate you.”

Goku looked at her with such hope it made her heart ache, “You don’t?”

“No,” she said looking him right in the eye, “I feel a lot of things for you: pain, sadness, betrayal, but I don’t hate you. Hate is a poison. Hating you wouldn’t help anything and I don’t see the point in trying to hate you. Being hurt and betrayed is enough; I don’t need to seek out other, more destructive emotions.”

“Do you think I’ll ever be able to make things right with you and your mother?”

Gohanna took a moment to carefully choose her words, “Mother still loves you just as much as ever. However, she now knows that your actions can hurt Goten so she will always be watching for that. But if you really tried? Mother would be so happy to have you back and Goten has never been hurt by you so he will give you a chance.”

Goku was pleased by the news, be he knew his question had not been fully answered, “What about you?”

“No,” she said quietly, hating the way her father’s face fell, “there has just been so much pain from you. I don’t see how I could ever look at you and see anything other than the man who abandoned me so many times when I needed him. I needed you,” she said, eyes glistening with tears, “but you kept dragging me into things I couldn’t handle and then acting like you had done nothing wrong. At 18 years old most people don’t even know somebody who died. I have seen almost every single person I care about die and always in violent ways. I should never have been involved with those battles. It doesn’t matter how strong I was, you should have protected me from it. I would never let Pan, Goten or Trunks do any of the things I did. It’s why I’ve trained so hard; I’ll never allow for a situation where they will need to fight. I’ll die before I let that happen.”

Goku didn’t have a chance to respond as the tournament announcer called out that Gohanna had until the count of ten to enter the ring before she was disqualified. Instead he settled for a rather half-hearted call of “Good Luck” to which he received a small smile and a pat on the back.


	9. The rest of the tournament

Gohanna narrowed her eyes at Kibito, deeply suspicious. While people may have been aware that there were a few remaining Saiyans, nobody should have known about Super Saiyans. She considered her opponent; she obviously didn’t know every alien race, his red skin, however, made it unlikely he was from Earth. She turned to look at Shin who had been close to Kibito. His purple skin also suggested he was not from Earth. She privately wondered what it said about her life that she didn’t think people with red or purple skin were at all strange until they revealed that they knew information they shouldn’t.

Apparently Kibito was not terribly patient, “Well, what are you waiting for? Are you going to become a Super Saiyan or not?”

Gohanna glared at him, “Not.”

Kibito looked positively floored, “Why not?”

Gohanna, hands on her hips, said, “First, we all agreed not to transform today. I intend to keep my word. Second, if you want my full power you are going to have to prove yourself capable of handling it; I’m no bully and I believe it to be overkill. Third, I find it very suspicious that you want me to power up so much. Something is clearly going on in this tournament and I am on my guard. You want a Super Saiyan? Too bad.”

Kibito was shocked. He had no expected her to argue. Luckily for him Piccolo called out, telling Gohanna to do as he said.

Gohanna stared at her mentor, incredulous, “We all swore not to power up. I know Trunks and Goten didn’t listen, but we, as adults, need to keep our words. Besides, Super Saiyan is overkill for this tournament.”

Piccolo grit his teeth, he knew that all of her points were valid, and given that the Supreme Kai intended for her to be attacked as soon as she powered up, she had good reason to be suspicious. Still, “Do it. It’s an order from the Supreme Kai.”

Gohanna had a bad feeling. She decided that she would transform, but she intended to suppress her power so that she seemed weaker than she really was. With barely a grunt of exertion she transformed, making sure to focus her power to the level it had been when she fought the androids. Her feeling of foreboding tripled when she found herself paralyzed.

Her dread was replaced by anger when she saw Spopovitch and his partner move to attack her. She decided to show them the error of their ways. With a loud shout her body was surrounded by ki blasts, which the two would-be attackers ran right into. They were sent flying back into the walls, unconscious.

Kibito and the Supreme Kai were shocked. They had been expecting their plan to go off without a hitch, how had it gone so wrong?

Gohanna’s eyes zeroed in on the Supreme Kai. Based on his stance she knew that he was the one keeping her immobile. “Hey ‘Shin,’” she called, drawing his attention; “if you don’t let go you are going into a wall too.”

Knowing that the plan was well and truly blown, he had no choice but to comply.

Kibito, however, was not so willing to accept defeat, “How did you do that?”

Gohanna glared at him so hard he actually took a step back. Supreme Kai’s orders or not, she was pissed, “A while back I determined it would be useful to have an attack that I could use even if I was pinned and unable to move,” she could tell that all of her friends understood what she meant by that, “I saw people I knew to be dangerous move to attack me and I defended myself. I don’t know why that would be surprising to anyone. You should be aware that I’m angry now. And I’m not nearly so pleasant to be around when I’m angry.”

To Gohanna’s irritation Kibito forfeited. She was not terribly surprised; it was obvious to her that he had been counting on Spopovitch taking her out. For some reason her transformation seemed to have prompted the attack, this very firmly pushed Kibito and Shin into her ‘enemy’ list. She moved back to where the others were waiting and rounded on Piccolo. “What the hell was that?” she spat angrily.

The others had been just as surprised about Gohanna’s ability to defend herself and were slow to reply. Shin stepped forward and explained what he had planned to have happen. 

Gohanna pinched the bridge of her nose with a deep sigh, “Oh you’re as stupid as my little brothers,” she said in a whiny tone.

Piccolo, Krillin, Goku and Kibito were shocked and horrified by her blatant disrespect. The Supreme Kai merely asked her to clarify.

She looked at him and said, “First, at some point Spopovitch and Yamu will go back to Babidi, if only to tell him they failed. Second, why would you want them to absorb the energy of the strongest fighter? They jumped at that little bit of energy I showed, they weren’t exactly being picky.” She ignored Kibito’s garbled cry of “Little bit of energy?!” and continued, “Third, if Majin Buu were revived with that energy, wouldn’t it be more sensible to have him as weak as possible? And fourth, did you ever think about how dangerous it is to try and find an enemy by giving him what he needs to finish his plan to take over? Couldn’t you just keep an eye out and follow his minions? They don’t exactly blend in.”

Kibito and the Supreme Kai both felt very foolish at the way Gohanna so easily tore apart their plan. They decided that they would follow Spopovitch and Yamu when they left. Their part in this tournament was over. Much to the horror of the tournament officials, they flew off.

“This is a nightmare,” wailed one of the officials, “Mighty Mask is still unconscious, one of our competitors just left, two others are disqualified, this is such a mess!”  
Gohanna examined the tournament set-up, with Shin gone Krillin would automatically advance as would she since Spopovitch was disqualified. She had no doubt that Android 18 would beat Hercule. There was no way to know who would win in a fight between Goku and Vegeta. She suspected that the fight would get out of hand, but she thought her father would win. Provided Mighty Mask didn’t wake up, his opponent would automatically advance, as would the man who would have fought Yamu. The tournament would come down to Gohanna versus either Goku or Vegeta. She knew from their spars that she was stronger than Vegeta. Goku’s strength was unknown. She doubted he’d done anything but train since he died.

She decided that this tournament would end much as the kid’s tournament had; she would win, if only because her opponent was exhausted from previous fights. She wondered if she might have to fight Android 18. Goku would have to be incredibly strong to be able to beat an android after a fight with Vegeta, especially when Vegeta’s pride was on the line. After two super strong opponents Goku would at the very least be worn out whereas Gohanna would have only fought Krillin who was hardly a challenge for her.

Gohanna was distracted from her thoughts as the match between 18 and Hercule began. True to her expectations, 18 barely flicked the man and he was sent flying out of the ring, there was complete silence from the crowd as they tried to digest the fact that their savior had been very easily defeated with no visible effort. Predictably, to the people in the know at least, Hercule immediately began insisting that he had tripped out of the ring. The crowd seemed to buy it, much to the disgust of Gohanna. She was looking forward to the exhibition match between the new champion and Hercule.

Now was the moment they had been waiting for, the fight between Goku and Vegeta. She had reminded them not to go Super Saiyan, but after Goten, Trunks and her, she was not holding out much hope. The majority of the fight was actually surprisingly tame, they mostly focused on trading blows and unless they hit the ring there was no way for anybody to know that their punches could level a mountain. Unfortunately, seeing Goku keep up with him enraged Vegeta and he transformed straight to Super Saiyan 2. Goku immediately matched him.

After a lengthy battle, Goku managed to knock Vegeta out, leaving him the victor. Gohanna looked into the stands and was amused to see the disappointment in Trunks and Bulma’s faces.

The next “round” of the tournament went very quickly. Mighty Mask was still out so Kill advanced automatically. With Yamu disqualified Jewel advanced as well. Shin left so Krillin advanced and as Spopovitch was disqualified Gohanna automatically advanced. It was once again time for Goku to fight. It was decided that there would be a half-hour break in order for Goku to rest.

The remaining fighters decided to split off, Krillin and 18 went off together while Gohanna, Goku and Videl, who had returned from the infirmary, all went off to the restaurant provided for contestants. Videl watched them in the now familiar state of awe and disgust.

As Gohanna and Goku stuffed their faces, Gohanna took the time to evaluate her father. He was understandably worn out from the fight with Vegeta and fighting 18 would wear him down more. She considered insisting that Goku take a senzu bean before their fight but decided against it. She was still a little bitter about him giving a bean to Cell before her fight with him and she decided this would be a good way to get back at him.

She wondered what would happen after today. She wondered if today had been enough to convince Goku that his family needed him or if he would insist on remaining dead. She had no way of knowing, but similar thoughts were going through Goku’s head. He wondered if he would even be allowed in his house if he were to come back. He was scared that the answer would be no, but he knew he needed to ask anyway; he’d already made too many mistakes by assuming he knew what was right.  
When the call came for 18 and Goku to make their ways to the ring, all the remaining (and even the beaten) contestants quickly returned to the waiting area. The fight between 18 and Goku was undoubtedly intense. 18 wanted the prize money badly and despite his best intentions to be fair, Goku couldn’t help seeing 17 every time he looked at her. They were well matched for the most part, both knew Goku was far stronger than her normally, but his fight with Vegeta had taken a great deal of energy.

Goku’s distraction proved to be his undoing. With him already being so tried and distracted and 18’s unlimited energy it was easy for 18 to knock him out of the ring. It was obvious that everybody was surprised at this outcome. Krillin couldn’t help cheering for his wife though you could barely hear it over Vegeta’s outrage that his rival had lost to the “rust bucket”.

Goku couldn’t help laughing, it had been so long since he’d had such challenging fights, it went a long way towards improving his mood.

18 was very happy that it was Goku she had beaten and not Vegeta. Vegeta, she knew, would have held a grudge and would have demanded a rematch as soon as he was recovered. She didn’t have to worry about such brutal retribution from Goku.

The following fight was not nearly as interesting as the previous two but Jewel finally managed to eke out a win. When the time came for Krillin and Gohanna’s match Krillin seriously considered forfeiting before the match even started, but he was fairly sure the crowd would lynch the next person to do so. They had already lost out on six matches, they would not be happy about another one. He comforted himself with the knowledge that Gohanna did not share Goku or Vegeta’s tendencies to get a little out of control in a fight. She would still beat him, but the defeat would not be nearly as painful as it would be with the other two. He was right; they sparred for about ten minutes, Gohanna matching him for strength and speed until she decided it was time to end the match. It didn’t take much effort, she made sure to hit hard enough, but only enough to knock him out.

18’s match with Jewel was just as easy; she flicked him out of the ring just as easily as she had with Hercule. The crowd was going wild, it was rare enough for a female to enter the WMAT, few made it past the first round. There had never been two female finalists before. There was a problem now, with so many missed matches the finals were happening much sooner than expected; some very important figures had intended to come for the finals but were not yet there. They now had to decide whether or not to wait for these people (they would arrive in about two hours) or get on with the fight. It was ultimately decided that the match would start right away but they exhibition match would wait until everyone was there.

The crowd was hard pressed to predict the victor of this fight; Gohanna and 18 both really only fought once, though 18 was the favorite given that she had flicked two different people out of the ring. The Z fighters knew differently; 18 didn’t stand a chance against Gohanna.

This match started just like the match against Krillin, 18 trying her hardest and Gohanna matching the strength and speed. The difference was that it was a good deal harder to match an android without powering up. Gohanna knew that she needed to transform if she wanted to win. She really had hoped to avoid doing so because Hercule would not be nearly as cocky knowing she could do some of the things he had seen at the Cell Games. It would also be hard to avoid being linked with the Delivery Girl. She sighed, there was nothing else for it, she was not going to lose.

With a shout Gohanna easily made the jump to Super Saiyan. Just to be sure she pushed it to Super Saiyan 2. With that she quickly ended the fight. 18 just could not compete with a second level Super Saiyan. The crowd went wild when 18 conceded defeat. Even with the sound of the crowd as loud as it was, Gohanna could still clearly hear her mother’s triumphant shouts of “That’s my daughter!” and the cries of “That’s my sister/Momma!” from the kids.

There was a great deal of cheering from the waiting area as Gohanna was presented with the belt of the World Champion. Videl was fighting not to run out and kiss the girl; neither was ready to out themselves to the entire world.

Goku felt a deep sense of pride; his daughter had followed in his footsteps and become World Champion. He felt sad knowing that he’d had very little to do with the strong young woman his daughter had become; it was a bittersweet moment. "Well folks, there you have it, the new World Champion—Gohanna Son!” Called out the announcer, prompting a new wave of cheers. “In just a little while the exhibition match between Ms. Son and Mr. Satan will take place. For now, please give it up for the first every female World Champion!”

Gohanna went back to the waiting area, composed as ever. As soon as she was out of sight, however, she started squealing, jumping up and down in excitement. Videl laughed at the sight, that laugh quickly changed into a shriek as Gohanna lifted her off the ground and spun her around in glee.

Goku, Krillin and Piccolo looked on fondly, happy to see the girl so honestly excited. It was even better seeing her behaving so childishly rather than her usual maturity. It was good to see.


End file.
